Sydney Pollack to Direct Movie About 2000 Election

Famed director Sydney Pollack (Three Days of the Condor, Tootsie, The Firm) will be tackling one of the most controversial and divisive political events of recent years: the 2000 election. HBO Films has approved Recount, which will follow the Florida recount from Election Day through the Supreme Court's highly contested ruling in favor of George W. Bush over Al Gore five weeks later. The movie will place an emphasis on the "human drama" behind the news events, and is said to be about many of the smaller players in the proceedings. I suppose this means Recount will not focus on actors impersonating Bush and Gore, which is probably a good call. The film is said to deal with "activists, strategists, politicians and even voters," and will "elaborate on the recount saga in meaningful ways." Danny Strong, known mostly as a television actor to this point, wrote the script.

HBO Films will be airing Recount on HBO instead of theatrically, a move executives say will guarantee millions of viewers. For those expecting a Fahrenheit 9/11 - style Bush bashing, HBO insists that the script steers clear of a partisan point of view in hopes of luring the largest possible audience. According to Paula Weinstein, one of the film's producers, "It's about a major event in American history, but it has no particular agenda or ax to grind." Recount is aiming to be in production by the summer. The film is expected to air on HBO next spring, when the country will be in the midst of another (hopefully less scandalous) presidential election.